After its success in the Offshore Superboat Championships securing a 15th AUS1 Championship title in 2017 Maritimo Racing is starting the New Year on a roll and is gearing up for the first round of the UIM XCAT World Championship in the UAE next month (March).

Maritimo's Tom Barry-Cotter said the team's race boat and workshop container are currently en route to the UAE and after spending the summer months testing and improving the boat he is confident it will be competitive.

Barry-Cotter said the boat had been completely re-rigged and repaired following its 200 kilometers per hour plus crash in 2016 and had been rebranded from Gold Coast Australia to Maritimo Racing.

"We lengthened the boat to better handle the 400 ROS outboards and we have undertaken cockpit safety modifications with changes to the windscreen, seats and both upper and lower escape hatches," he said.

Barry-Cotter said the XCAT series in 2018 involved races in the UAE, Europe and China and he was excited by the team's prospects.

In 2017 Maritimo 12 crewed by Barry-Cotter and Steve Jellick proved to be a formidable combination in the Australian Offshore Superboat Championships and they enter 2018 as heavy favourites in a title defense.

The 40ft Maritimo Catamaran has undergone an upgrade program amidst its off-season overhaul.

Maritimo's second entry, Maritimo 11 crewed by father and son duo Ross and Andrew Willaton will compete in the new Maritimo R36 and will also present a strong challenge to the title defense.

Barry -Cotter said the off-season had been spent testing and developing the new R36.

The development of the R36 model will see it ultimately made available as a package for purchase, for anyone looking at getting involved in the sport.

The first race in the Australian series will be held in Bowen in late April and the growing Super Cat Extreme Class will see the largest competitive fleet in many years, according to Barry-Cotter.

"We are looking forward to both competitions and we believe we have positioned ourselves very well in terms of the boats we will be campaigning."

Barry-Cotter said Maritimo was the only Australian luxury cruiser manufacturer that had its own race team and the experience and knowledge gained on the international race circuit was inbuilt into the company's range of production vessels.